Hammer - C-Space

March 2, 2018 - Feel My Bicep

Never forget. E = mc2

Feel My Bicep Records is furiously punching 2018 into the future with its first release of the year, C-Space EP by Hammer. This EP is pure energy, and listening to it is like splitting an atom between the ears and then listening to what it has to say. It’s been keeping me alive at the office all week. 

Upon first listen, I was attached to the first song only. I certainly have a soft spot for anthems, and boy is ‘C-Space’ an anthem. It’s the shining star and namesake of the C-Space EP. It sings the optimism of a radar scan that forgot itself and decided it wanted to become a song. It has bright dancing synths and a bass line that has the dynamics of a Jaco Pastorius improv limerick. These two elements create a volatile, constructive tension that ultimately spark a fusion reaction in the song’s resolution. What more can a girl ask for? This song leaves me breathless.

So breathless, in fact, that I completely ignored the other songs on the EP at first and listened to ‘C-Space’ on repeat. Dear readers, I admit this not because the remaining two songs are insignificant. I am of the opinion that, musically-speaking, everything on C-Space EP is perfect and highly valuable. But, I am only a human, and the order of the songs on the EP is not an easy emotional trajectory for humans to follow. C-Space begins with megalomania and ends with horror. And all three songs are so pregnant with energy that I can’t help but be wrapped up in the modal mood journey of their progression. 

It’s impossible to listen to C-Space without reading a narrative progression from first song to last. In less than 20 minutes and with only a handful of instruments, Hammer has crafted a heroic epic that dives deep into the core of humanity with an unexpectedly Classical flair. 

The second song, ‘Atlantic 252,’ marks a dramatic shift from the constructive, explosive joy of ‘C-Space.’ If ‘C-Space’ is a busy downtown city street dripping in the splendor of full springtime daylight, ‘Atlantic 252’ is the narrow alley draped in shadow I take downhill to the next destination. Hammer carries the bass line from the first song through the second, but leaves it muffled and dim in the background. And here, in the middle track, over a jungle shuffle, he introduces a few elements of danger—haunting faraway vocals that evoke a desert scene in a nature television show and a spacey musical saw that indicates a snake is in my vicinity.

By the third and final song, ‘Inside Soul,’ I have descended into the darkest hour, the height of the action. All optimism has been sloughed off in the odyssey. I am now immersed in a terrifying minor key with a spooky melody that crescendos and decrescendos in pulsing urgency. The screechy synth descant and deep staccato bass line underneath it all heighten the dire consequences of listening. This song is a battle fought alone in a desolate landscape. And that is where Hammer leaves us for now. Terrified and alone. 

The result of listening to C-Space all the way through is a moment of dark introspection followed by a thirst for more music. I can only hope the Hammer will fall on a full album release in the near future. 

Hammer, aka Rory Hamilton, is a UK-based producer who has been on the scene for a while as one of the key contributors to the Feel My Bicep blog-turned-record-label. This guy has great taste and technical prowess. (Meow.) C-Space EP will make you laugh, dance, and cry. It will add salt to your life and remind you how much brighter things look when good music excites the feelings you dull for everyday use. It will require you to step beyond the simple satisfaction you expect when hunting for electronic dance music and reward you for your effort. Cheers to listening and living. ☔